6-6-26 Created by Jim Reinders Carhedge, located in Alliance NE, is a replica of the famous Stonehenge in England. I arrived at 0930 and found the geocache in the parking lot then walked around the exhibit. There was another geocache in the exhibit. The log is an old station wagon near the far end of the grounds which is covered with signatures as it was placed in 2003. Very unique roadside attraction I stopped at on my was north from Scott’s Bluff. There is a nice trail and a gift shop.
Next, I stopped at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument Visitor Center and Museum in Sioux County NE. I spent some time inside looking at all the artifacts on display and watching a film about the fossil beds and the people that discovered them. Afterwards I hiked the Daemonelix trail. Half way up the cliff face they discovered a series of vertical spiral shapes. The locals called them Devil Corkscrews but they are actually burrows of ancient beavers leading down to nesting areas underground. They are approximately 20 to 23 million years old, dating back to the Miocene epoch of the Neogene period. I completed 3 Earthcaches before continuing on north to the Toadstool Geological Park, which I will tell you about in my next post.
After a couple nights free parking, I looked for a campground with facilities so I can get a shower. I have
heard good things about the Army Corps of Engineer campgrounds, they are well maintained and cost less. I was able to make reservations at one of these camp grounds on the Iowa River near Iowa city. I did pass the worlds largest truck stop on the way to Iowa, but I didn't stop. I got to the campground early and the checkin booth was closed, so I went ahead and found my spot then rode my bike back to the gate and checked in, I really enjoyed riding around the camp grounds and learning about the Devonian Fossil Gorge After my bike ride it was hot with high humidity so I went and took a long shower. I had shore power connected so I closed all the windows and used the AC which worked pretty well. I think I am understanding the difference between RVing and van camping. My time at the West Overlook campground was short but very productive, a shower, dumped the gray tank and filled up with fresh water. All for $20.
The next day I headed west. I realized that the farther west I go, the farther away from the midwest heat wave. I continued through Iowa and into Nebraska. Looking for a a target geocache, I came across the geographical center of the United States in Lebanon Kansas. So about 1/3 into Nebraska, I turned south towards Kansas farm lands. The center monument was easy to find, but the small cache that was hidden in the BBQ stand was a pretty tricky hide. I was far away from any freeway rest stop or Walmart parking lot. So I felt fortunate to find a roadside park on the Campendium app in a farm town called Smith Center. I had Subway tuna for dinner. The park was next to corn fields and the feed supply building. All I had was the app review that said overnight parking was allowed. I waited for the Sheriff to run me off, but no one came. It was a very nice and quiet place to sleep. I was on the road by 0700 heading south towards Dodge City, then onto another free camping spot in Oklahoma. 👀photos of Iowa - Kansas 👀 Thanks for visiting. If you have a google account, you can leave a comment below.
050625 Badger Creek Dispersed Camping - Marble Canyon, Grand Canyon National Park. 36°46'35.2"N 111°39'33.0"W
I left the Flagstaff mountains, heading north towards Page AZ. My first stop was Valentine's Bridge at Tanner's Crossing, now called Cameron. Over a gorge of the Little Colorado on the edge of Navajo and Hopi country a sway-back, one-track suspension bridge was erected in 1911.
Continuing north on hwy 89 I headed to Horseshoe Bend. I have passed this so many times and never stopped. The parking lot was nearly full, cars, RV's and tour buses! $10 entrance fee just before the 2.4 kilometer round trip walk down to the viewing area. Even though I was turned off by the crowd, I enjoyed the walk and the views. Here is the Earth Cache Questions and my answers 1. Why did the Colorado River make this 270 degree horseshoe shape? The materials being eroded were softer than the point in middle, maybe more granite verses more porous sandstone. 2. What do you think horseshoe bend will look like 5 million years from now?All things equal, the river will go dry. But 5million years any number of geological events could take place. 3. How many millions of years did it take sand dunes to become petrified by the calcite, retaining their beautiful sloping dune shapes? 20 million or so <-- I googled this
4. The different colors, except for white, are caused by the presence of varying mixtures and amounts of what filling the pore space within the quartz sand comprising the Navajo Sandstone. Minerals that are impacted by the environment such as iron particles
5. Describe in your own words what you are seeing and experiencing as you visit Horseshoe Bend. Wow there was a lot of people but glad to see high interest. What I am thinking is this is a standard piece of science on a really large scale.
Next I headed back south to the Historic Navajo Bridge, which was the first bridge over the Colorado River for 600 miles. When the historic Navajo Bridge opened on January 12, 1929, Flagstaff's newspaper, the Coconino Sun, called it "the biggest news in southwest history." (https://www.geocaching.com/geocache/GC8209_historic-navajo-bridge)
I took a nice stroll across the bridge enjoying the views. I really like visiting historic bridges and taking photos of the engineering.
Arch 616', Total length 834' Height 467'
Now that I have entered the Marble Canyon area, it's time to find a place to set up camp. I used a app call Campendium to find Badger Creek Dispersed Camping BLM (Bureau of Land Management) public land. This particular spot started with a rough entrance off hwy 89A, but the van handled it very well, but a few things fell off the shelf. I went in about a mile, well away from the fifth wheel I passed and pull off into a camp site - right into some loose sand.
With tires spinning I got popped back on the rocky road. So I got out and found some hard packed dirt, parked and got the Jagrundi out and peddled farther in to see how the road is. Although it the road had some ruts and exposed boulders, it looked passable. In fact the next occupied campsite was a low clearance minivan. But I kept riding all the way to
the canyon edge, 2 miles from the main road. The last campsite had room for a large group and it lies right on the canyon edge. That's when it started raining. By the time I got back to the van I was all wet. Reloaded the bike and waiting for the rain the stop. Pretty soon I made my way to a nice campsite a little farther in. It kept raining off and on. I could see the rain clouds coming in over the cliffs. I counted 4 other campers during my bike ride, but as sunset neared four more came up the road, 2 vans, a pickup and a 4runner.
There was plenty of room between campers.
The clouds stayed all night, so there was no star gazing.
I had a good meal and read my book.
The wind picked up so I took my awning down.
No rain in the morning and it was an easy 65°
I really wanted to stay another day, but I had a Van upgrade appointment the next day so I had to make my way home.
Before I left the area, I went on a long bike ride hunting a couple geocaches on another jeep trail that ended with a 450' drop to the Colorado river. After that I stopped at the Cliff Dwellers stone house for a Virtual Cache. After posting my log, I took off back the way I came and visited Lees Ferry, Glen Canyon, $30 entrance fee, this is where they start a lot of the river rafting. Beautiful cliff views and I visited the old dwellings of the Mormon settlers. I took my time, parked by the river and had some lunch. Eventually, I made my way back through the Navajo settlements, Flagstaff, Sedona and into the Phoenix valley, getting home about 1900. Arizona has such a diverse land scape reachable within hours. Desert, mountains, cliffs and cactus forests. Here is the link to my iCloud album for this trip: Badger Creek Dispersed camping
Well I can't make a visit without a caching trip with the Hatches. Today Cammo (Cameron), Chris and I hike up to the "Above the Falls" cache GC1G8CH and was rewarded with a beautiful view of downtown Ogden,
The transit up the ravine south of the falls was kind of dicey, but we made it just fine. Coming down was another adventure!
The view next to the falls was wonderful and it is a long drop down!
We found three other caches on the way up and down.
We started at the Pioneer mail camp ground and got on the PCT from there. About 2.5 mile to the trail that heads up the peak. The cache was placed in 2002 and was rename Phoenix Cache after the fires in late summer 2002. After the peak, we hiked south on the PCT for about 3 more miles finding various caches. It was windy, but nice and warm. We had lunch on a outcropping and headed back. Good Father and Son adventure!
Bilbo Baggins start out his journey at SUDZ in April 2013. It took him a long time to get started. Thought we had lost him because he was not reported leaving the cache, but was no longer there. But all of a sudden he was found and dropped off near San Diego airport!
Tom20125ab grabbed him and took him on an adventure up the coast of California and then dropped him off in Germany.
No more photos have been taken. As of today, Bilbo has gone 7397.5 miles and is in the hands of Diana1963.
I-10 just before getting into Palm Desert area. A Earth Cache got me to stop here called "Between ranges" GC1YZEZ did my best to take a photo of me and my gps with the mountains in the back ground.
There are so many wind birds generating electricity in this area. It is amazing to see them all turning with the natural beauty in the background. Nature and Man working together. I grabbed a couple more along the frontage road by the railroad, then headed on.
Cactus Blooms
Sun Baked
I took the bike out and road to some desert hides along a pretty good dirt road. Doesn't take long once you get away from the freeway to see the beauty of the desert.
